Daughter: Nanny Went To Father’s Bedroom At Night

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PROVO, Utah (AP) — Two daughters of a Utah doctor accused of killing his wife says that soon after her death, he hired his mistress as a nanny and she did not cook or take care of the children but went to his bedroom at night.

The nanny, Gypsy Willis, previously testified that she was the doctor’s mistress around the time of his wife’s death.

Sabrina MacNeill says Willis didn’t do anything a nanny would be expected to do.

“She made spaghetti once, and that was the only time she cooked,” said Sabrina Willis. “She didn’t do anything.”

She added that Willis would go into the father’s room late at night. They also sometimes took vacations together, but left the house separately to avoid raising suspicions.

The Utah State University student is an adopted daughter from Ukraine and recalled growing up in a picture-perfect family of eight.

One of the couple’s older daughters, Alexis Somers, testified Wednesday that Willis would come and go throughout the day, and seemed more focused on the doctor than the children.

“I never saw her pick up the children or do any cooking or cleaning,” Somers said. “I saw her follow my dad around a lot. I saw them leaving together often.”

Prosecutors say Martin MacNeill, 57, hounded his wife, Michele MacNeill, to get cosmetic surgery then knocked her out with painkillers and left her to die in a bathtub. They say his motive was to get rid of his wife so he could be with Willis.

In previous testimony, Willis said she traded text messages with the doctor 30 times that day. She also said she texted suggestive photos of herself to him on the day after the funeral.

Defense lawyers argue Michele MacNeill had a heart attack and fell into the tub in April 2007 in their home in Pleasant Grove, about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City.

No witness saw how she got in the tub — or how she ended up taking the pills.

The trial is in its eighth day. It is expected to go through mid-November.